Two years after her doctor cautioned about her weight, Dayo Akinbode started exercising, discovered the marathon, has spent 15 years running marathons in 83 countries, and brought it home as the Ile-Ife Heritage Marathon Annual. Her dream was to run at least one marathon. “The company I worked for introduced in 2012 the Global Corporate Challenge, which encouraged participants to take 10,000 steps daily.
I started walking to meet this target but transitioned to jogging and running to complete the steps more efficiently. As I became more involved in running, I learned about the rarity of marathon completion, with only 1% of the population achieving this feat. This statistic intrigued me and motivated me to join that exclusive group.
I wanted to run just one marathon.” Read also: After marathon session, Federal Executive Council bets on 21 key initiatives to get Nigeria moving again She lost 12 kg in the Shell in-house competition. It was a spur.
Beginning with a half marathon, Dayo Akinbode affirms, “I have run the full marathon of 42.195km in 83 countries. I aim to complete the total marathon distance and lift my Nigerian flag in every country.
” Lifting the Nigerian flag in every race and country is now integral to Dayo’s marathon journey. As for funding, “I retired from the corporate world at 50 to pursue my passion, and my races and trips are all self-funded.” Kenyans and other East Africans run marathons professionally.
Do you find them in the races you run? .
